Gassett v. Nissan N.A., Inc.

877 F. Supp. 974, 1994 WL 757862, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19644
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedDecember 21, 1994
DocketCiv. No. 1993-100
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 877 F. Supp. 974 (Gassett v. Nissan N.A., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gassett v. Nissan N.A., Inc., 877 F. Supp. 974, 1994 WL 757862, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19644 (vid 1994).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, Senior District Judge.

(1) Reference is hereby made to defendant Motorambar, Inc.’s November 3,1994 motion for summary judgment, defendant The Bank of Nova Scotia’s November 7, 1994 motion for summary judgment, and to all other filings in this ease.

(2) In this case, plaintiffs, Thomas Gassett (hereinafter “Mr. Gassett”) and G.S. Industries, Inc. (hereinafter “GSI”) state, in five counts, five claims against defendants Nissan of North America, Inc. (hereinafter “Nissan”), Motorambar, Inc. (hereinafter “Motorambar”), and The Bank of Nova Scotia (hereinafter “BNS”). In Count I, both plaintiffs allege that defendants Nissan and Motorambar violated the Federal Automobile Dealers’ Day in Court Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1221 et seq. (hereinafter “federal dealer act”), by terminating plaintiffs’ Nissan franchise in bad faith. In Count II, both plaintiffs allege that defendants Nissan and Motorambar violated 12A V.I.C. § 131 by failing to give plaintiffs at least 120 days notice prior to terminating the Nissan franchise; violated 12A V.I.C. § 132 by terminating the franchise without good cause; and violated 12A V.I.C. § 134 by engaging in unfair competition. In Count III, both plaintiffs allege that defendants Nissan and Motorambar engaged in discriminatory “maldistribution” of vehicles in violation of the federal anti-trust laws. In Count IV, Mr. Gassett (but not GSI) alleges that defendant BNS interfered with plaintiffs business relationship by wrongfully denying credit. In Count V, both plaintiffs allege that all defendants, through a pattern of racketeering, violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

Defendant Nissan is a corporation incorporated in California with its principal place of business in that state. Defendant Motorambar is a corporation formed pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico [976]*976with its principal place of business in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Defendant BNS is a banking organization organized under the laws of the Dominion of Canada and has done business with plaintiffs in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Plaintiff GSI is a corporation organized under the laws of the U.S. Virgin Islands with its principal place of business in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Plaintiff Mr. Gassett is a citizen of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Diversity jurisdiction is present pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Additionally, because federal questions have been asserted under Counts I, III, and V, subject matter jurisdiction is present with respect to those counts under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and supplemental subject matter jurisdiction seemingly exists as to Counts II and IV pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367.

(3) On October 18, 1994 the parties stipulated to the voluntary dismissal of Nissan from the within case and also stipulated to the dismissal of all of the class action claims which were originally stated by plaintiffs in one or more counts of the complaint. Additionally, during an October 28, 1994 on-the-record telephone conference, the parties orally informed this Court that they were stipulating to the dismissal of the RICO allegations stated in Count V. Further, on October 27, 1994, this Court filed a Memorandum and Order dismissing the contentions of the corporate plaintiff, GSI, with respect to Count II on limitations grounds and because of failure to pay certain Virgin Islands taxes. Therefore, the only issues remaining before this Court are set forth in: Count I, Count II (with regard to the individual plaintiff only); Count III; and Count IV.

(4) The facts in this case, unless indicated otherwise, are undisputed. The case is related to an earlier bankruptcy proceeding, namely, In re: West Indies Automotive Corp. et. al, (D.V.I., Bankr. No. 368-00006). Motorambar is the distributor of Nissan vehicles in the Caribbean region. The West Indies Automotive Corporation (hereinafter “WIAC”) sold Nissan vehicles and other vehicles, at retail, to members of the public. Before WIAC filed for bankruptcy, Motorambar sold Nissan vehicles to WIAC. In May 1988, Motorambar notified WIAC that Motorambar was terminating its relationship with WIAC. In July 1988, WIAC filed for bankruptcy protection. During the course of that bankruptcy litigation, a dispute arose between the trustee in bankruptcy and Motorambar regarding the assignability of the prior agreement between Motorambar and WIAC. Motorambar asserted that its prior relationship with WIAC had been entirely severed and that the trustee in bankruptcy had nothing to assign. However, at the same time, Motorambar began to negotiate with Mr. Gassett and GSI to sell Nissan vehicles to GSI. Eventually Motorambar and the trustee reached an agreement, in the form of a stipulation, which Judge Brotman1, approved on September 28,1989.2 The stipulation provided, inter alia, that the “trustee may, for good and valuable consideration, transfer and assign whatever interest, if any, the estate may have in a Nissan dealership;” 3 that “Motorambar has agreed to sell Nissan vehicles to Gassett on a non-exclusive basis;”4 and that “Motorambar reserves the right to reassert its position that no franchise was granted to the Debtor [WIAC] and that the Debtor’s relationship with Motorambar was terminated prior to the initiation of bankruptcy ...”5 The agreement reached by Motorambar and the trustee was accompanied by a termination of the dispute in the bankruptcy court concerning the assignability of rights under the prior Motorambar-WIAC relationship or agreement.

Subsequent to terminating its relationship with WIAC and prior to selling vehicles to Mr. Gassett and/or GSI, Motorambar sold Nissan vehicles to another St. Thomas dealer — Caribbean Nissan. While Mr. Gassett was negotiating with Motorambar and the WIAC trustee, he also entered into negotia[977]*977tions with Caribbean Nissan’s owners to acquire that business and to obtain “a successful transfer of a Nissan franchise from ‘Caribbean’ to ‘Gassett’.”6 Eventually, Mr. Gas-sett entered into a contract pursuant to which he and/or GSI would acquire Caribbean Nissan and its assets. In addition to the sale of the business assets, the contract provided for certain future employment by GSI of Caribbean Nissan’s former owners. Once it entered into the contract, Caribbean Motors advised Motorambar of the pending sale. After it was so advised, Motorambar advised Caribbean Motors that it could conduct business with Mr. Gassett and/or GSI as it wished, but that no franchise existed and that Caribbean Nissan “cannot transfer what [it does] not have.”7 Caribbean Nissan and Mr. Gassett (and/or GSI) then amended their agreement on May 22, 1989 to refer to “[the] successful transfer of the Nissan business arrangement between Caribbean and Motorambar to Gassett.”8

Beginning in June 1989, GSI began to order Nissan vehicles from Motorambar. Shortly after Motorambar began selling Nissan vehicles to GSI, a dispute, which eventually resulted in one or more lawsuits, arose between Mr.

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877 F. Supp. 974, 1994 WL 757862, 1994 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gassett-v-nissan-na-inc-vid-1994.